Now let us travel to the Mediterranean lands where the climate is warm and pleasant. The ancient Greek and man civilization flourished around this Mediterranean land. Today tourists flock to lands of this type partly because of the climate. It is sometimes considered the nicest place on the earth with its warm sunshine, its beautiful deep blue seas and clear blue skies, its carpet of flowers and orchards of fruits.

Winter rain and summer drought

This type of climate is referred to as Mediterranean and is found inlands that lie roughly between latitudes 30 degree cilices and 40 degree cilices, north and south of the Equator. These areas have a Mediterranean type of climate you will notice that they are on the western side of continents. Here the swing of the wind belts brings desert influences in summer. In winter, the wind belts swing towards the equator, and the westerly winds bring rain.

Here people enjoy all the four seasons- spring, summer, autumn and winter. In summer, the temperature is about 25 degrees chilies and the weather is very dry. This is referred to as summer drought. During winter, the temperature drops to about 10 degree cilices and is accompanied by rain.

Vegetation

All plants here are evergreen, although the growth of plants slows down during the summer drought. Grass does not grow well in areas, where rain occurs only in the cooler season. Most Mediterranean vegetation is adapted to survive the dry summer. For example, the cork-oak has a thick spongy bark, the vine has long roots that go deep into the soil to search for moisture and the olive has small waxy leaves to avoid loss of moisture. Trees are usually stunted. They are widely spaced, forming scrub rather than forest. Many small lands which die in summer, survive as bulbs until the winter.

The fertile soil found in this are is full of iron compounds and is red in color. So it is called terrarosa.

Grain and fruit in the Mediterranean

Wheat is the main cereal of the Mediterranean lands. It is shown in winter and harvested in early summer. Barely is cultivated in dries areas.

The grape is an important fruit of the Mediterranean lands. It supplies wine and dried fruit. The olive which supplies oil has been a staple food for centuries. Other typical Mediterranean crops are figs, almonds, peaches and apricots. Milk and butter are difficult to produce Mediterranean lands. Can you say why?

Citrus fruits such as lemons, oranges, limes and grapefruits have been brought from wetter region. The warm sunshine ripens the fruit.

In Israel, land has been reclaimed from the desert by the development of irrigation schemes. Irrigation us also changed the great valley of California into one of the world’s great fruit and vegetable growing center.